Brother
by Avery Fallon
Summary: Ron's point of view  of the possession scene from the Order of the Phoenix movie.


**Title:** Brothers

**Author:** Avery Fallon

**Email:** 2,300 words

**Disclaimer:** Everything you recognize as belonging to the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling. Everything you don't recognize as belonging to the Harry Potter universe also belongs to J.K. Rowling because she is God.

**Summary:** Ron's point of view of the possession scene from the OotP movie.

**AN:** This was written based on the possession scene from the OotP movie, and therefore contains spoilers for the movie. It is pretty noncompliant with the book (and I do regard the book as the Holy Grail, I just really liked the movie scene.) No Half-Blood Prince or Deathly Hallows spoilers.

Original draft written on 7/23/07

"A friend knows the song in my heart, and sings it to me when my memory fails."

Donna Roberts

Up until the fight in the Department of Mysteries, the scariest thing I had ever done involved hundreds of oversized spiders and a beat up old Ford Anglia. This fear was worse, however, because there was a Death Eater with a handful of Hermione's hair, another with a wand at Ginny's head. Even Neville and Luna I was afraid for, but they both looked braver than I felt. Neville even had the courage to speak where I could only huff like an angry bull.

"Don't give it to him, Harry!" And the sound of the wand smacking against Neville's throat. That move was odd, and rather reminded me of Professor Sinestra, who I've heard likes to smack her wand against the palms of anyone caught talking in her class. The move didn't hurt him, but it shut Neville up as if he had been petrified.

I don't want to know how Harry felt, couldn't imagine it, really, because not only was he probably feeling the same way I did, but he was at the center of it all. Voldemort had organized this whole thing because of him. His face never wavered, but I could see it in his eyes that he was ready to give it up. His thing with saving people was not immune to us, in fact it was strongest when it came to his friends, and the Death Eaters seemed to know exactly how to weaken him.

Harry handed over the prophecy and it was like it was like time slowed down. Lucius Malfoy held it as if it were the most valuable thing in the world, and was so pleased with himself that he didn't hear Sirius sneaking up behind him.

The world erupted in chaos, then. Order members began pouring in, and the Death Eaters that had been our captors abandoned us to fight those they assumed to be greater threats. Tonks gathered the five of us inside a small niche in the raised platform that Harry still stood upon, fighting side by side with Sirius.

"Harry!" I called, trying to get his attention, trying to get him to join us in our relative safety, but even I could barely hear myself over the noise of the curses being fired, the sounds of disapparation, and Bellatrix's maniacal laughter that echoed throughout the chamber. As hard as I try, I will never be able to get that laughter out of my head.

Then Sirius was dead.

I didn't see it happen, as I was throwing curses left and right at the time, but I heard Harry's scream. I thought he was hurt at first, the way he sounded, but when I looked, he was in a different kind of pain than I thought. Sirius was nowhere in sight, and Remus was doing his best to keep Harry from leaping through the veil.

"He's gone, he's gone." It seemed unnatural for Lupin to accept this so easily, odd that he didn't react more to losing his best friend after having him back for only two short years. If it had been Harry instead of Sirius going through that veil, I have no doubt I would have thrown myself in after him, as would Hermione.

And then Harry was gone. He tore away from Remus, not through the veil, but through a narrow hallway to chase after Bellatrix, who looked very much like the cat that caught the mouse.

I looked around, aware of the sudden lack of noise, and saw that the fight was over. The Death Eaters were bound from head to toe, looking disgruntled. One tried to bite Tonks, but she slid out of the way, then waved her wand at him. Rope snaked around to fill his mouth as well.

I began checking Ginny for injuries, for lack of anything else to do combined with the knowledge that mum was going to have a fit about all of this and I at least could tell her that I made sure she was okay.

Ginny was trying to squirm away from me when we heard it. Loud thundering noises that had nothing to do with the sky, followed by trembles that had nothing to do with the ground. It was coming from the hallway that Harry had disappeared through, and we were running towards it before the first noise even ended.

We never got through the doorway, as we were blocked by a large man in a trench coat.

"Whadd'ya think you're doin?" Moody growled at us as we skidded to a halt, trying not to end up crushed together against his chest.

"Moody, Harry's down that corridor, he chased after Bellatrix Lestrange! We've got to help him!"

"You don't have to do anything but stay here and out of trouble." The noise came again, louder this time. Then something that sounded like water flooding the room. "Dumbledore is with him, he doesn't need you're protection."

Then a noise that sounded just as the Hall of Prophecy did when thousands of glass balls had shattered to the ground at once. I didn't know what was out there, even what room the passageway led to, but it sounded as though it was being torn apart. I moved toward the passage way again, but Moody held me back using just one arm, looking unstrained.

Then the noise stopped. There was nothing at all. No voices, no spells being cast, nothing. Then there was screaming.

There was no mistaking Harry's voice as it floated to us from the opposite end of the corridor.

This time the five of us charged Moody's arm all at once, but he didn't even try to stop us. In fact, be began to run after us.

When we emerged from the hallway, I was surprised that we came out to the atrium of the Ministry. The glass was blown out of every single window, and there was white, sand-like stuff all over the floor. I could see Hermione surveying the room out of the corner of my eye, but my vision went straight to the two people in the center of the room.

Dumbledore was kneeling over Harry, who was writhing on the floor with his eyes shut tight against whatever pain he was in. He was gasping in pain, and looked like a person who had been suffering from a long illness, with dark circles under his eyes, and pale skin.

He stopped moving, then and looked at us, his eyes unblinking. For a split second I thought he had just up and died right there on the floor, but then he gasped again, and his eyes shut.

He didn't look like himself, then. His face was changing back and forth from looking slightly pale to looking like he had been dead for months. I could tell myself it was just a trick of the light, but no light could really make anyone look so horrible.

He began writhing again, though this time it seemed as though he were imitating a snake. He bared his teeth and made a horrible hissing noise that didn't sound as if it could have possibly come from a human mouth.

I have known Harry for five years now, and in those years we have been through a lot together. There's been anger and jealousy, pride, love, protectiveness, worry. Actually, lately, more worry than normal. But not since I learned he was a parseltongue have I really felt afraid of him, and even then it wasn't anything more than fear of the unknown.

But here, seeing him slithering on the floor, hearing the hissing, and the muttering that did not sound like his voice, the tinges of black and blue to his skin, he looked terrifying. That wasn't my best friend on that floor, it was a creature. I shuddered involuntarily, and Hermione took my sweaty hand in hers, and even though she squeezed so tightly I thought my hand would break, I didn't want her to let go. I couldn't think of a single curse that could have caused this, but the Death Eaters knew curses that they would never consider teaching at a school.

Then he was grunting again, sounding at once in pain and angry, and his body began to flop around as if he was being shaken by a giant invisible fist. Suddenly he flopped over onto his back, and lie still as if dead. A large, black mist seemed to tear from his chest, pulling him up toward the ceiling, then it freed itself from him, and he sagged back down, staring straight above him.

The mist was taking shape, swirling into a human form. First the black cloak, followed by white, shiny skin. I knew from Harry's description who I was looking at. I knew that for the first time in my life, and hopefully the last, I was laying eyes on You-Know-Who. It occurred to me to raise a hand in front of Ginny's face to keep her from seeing what was happening, but I couldn't move. She would have swatted me away, anyway.

You-Know-Who was standing directly over my best friend, who I considered to be a brother, holding a wand. Harry had been number one on his list of people to kill, and there he was, standing over Harry who had yet to move and didn't look like he could defend himself from a Nargle, let alone the most powerful dark wizard alive. But no one was moving. No one was doing anything. Why wasn't Dumbledore doing something?

But Voldemort didn't try to curse Harry. He was saying something. I couldn't hear him, for his soft voice didn't carry, but Harry didn't react.

Suddenly the fireplaces roared to life with green flames shooting out of every single one. I saw Fudge immediately, and he was flanked by Percy and dozens of Aurors and other Ministry workers. He looked almost comical as he stared at the disintegrating form of Voldemort, his mouth gaping like a fish. I would have laughed if I had not just witnessed You-Know-Who materializing out of my friends body.

"He's back!"

The words carried around the atrium, and I wanted to run over and smack him for being such an idiot. But I didn't move. I didn't let go of Hermione's hand. We stood and watched as Dumbledore scooped the now dead looking Harry into his arms. I couldn't breathe for the moments when I thought Dumbledore was going to look up and declare that Harry Potter was gone, for him to unknowingly imitate Lupin's stoic declaration of his friend's death, but then I saw the movement as Harry breathed, shallow as it was.

We stood there as they were surrounded by people. A prophet photographer who appeared out of nowhere began snapping pictures of Harry and Dumbledore, but Ginny flicked her wand slightly and the lens cracked. They still got some pictures, but not many.

Then we were being herded to the fires, and we flooed into Hogsmeade, and began the journey back to the castle. Dumbledore had conjured a stretcher for Harry, and floated it in front of him as he walked. Moody, Tonks, Shacklebolt and Lupin were walking with us, no one saying a word. The order members had witnessed what I can now only refer to as a possession as well, and all looked lost in thought. Whether it was the sight of You-Know-Who or the fact that he had actually been in Harry that they thought of, I will never know.

Harry was deposited in a bed, and was immediately checked over by Madame Pomphrey, and we were forced into beds as well, told to sleep until it was our turn to be looked over. We were left alone with the mediwitch, the others most likely gone to discuss the turn of events out of our earshot once again.

Only then did it truly hit me; Sirius was dead. Gone. I had seen they way he and Harry had acted at Grimmauld Place. They clung together like each was the others life line. Hermione told me about Sirius's comment about himself and Harry being a proper family when the war was over. Harry had no chance at a family now, not until he got married at least. I wondered who would be his guardian now. I knew I would have to talk to mum and dad about adopting Harry, about making him part of our family. I also knew that it probably would take more convincing of Dumbledore than of my parents.

I lay in bed, unable to sleep. I kept stealing glances at my friend. He had yet to regain consciousness, and looked for all the world as if he were simply sleeping. His family was gone, and when he woke up, he would be feeling it. I swore to myself right then and there that I would not let him go through this alone, and I knew that Hermione would be right there by his side. He would know he was not alone in the world, he would know that others shared his grief over Sirius, and that his godfather would not be forgotten. I would comfort him when he needed a friend, make jokes when he needed to laugh, and just be there when he needed a companion.

It's what brother's do, after all.


End file.
